23 December 2022

There were enough helmets to cover all our heads!

It was a cold day. Pop’s Coffee Shop was the perfect place to grab a hot cappuccino and catch up with Arup and Sheuly. Arup and I have not run together in a long time. Our miles have come down a lot and most of them are solo runs. We had a lot of ground to cover today given we are going thru roughly the same phases of life with two daughters, both having changed houses recently and both having not played the tabla for some time!!

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18 December 2022

What I remembered today

One of the fond memories I have of my mom goes this way…

Now, as a background, you might want to know that I was sent away to residential school at the age of 16. Thru high school and then college and subsequently while working, I used to come back home fairly often. At least, more often than most of my friends.

The first two hours of the routine in every such trip never wavered. Invariably, I would go to the kitchen where mom would be busy cooking and stand there at the door and chat with her. It would be a fairly one sided conversation. I would basically dump on her in a couple of hours everything that had happened to me since I met her last.

And after that, I would completely vanish. For the next couple of days, I would be out on my dad’s Vijay Deluxe mostly spending time with my friends or out there on the field playing with my brother.

All that changed during those years was that she moved from a coal fired oven (I still remember she making the hot rotis on it) to a LPG gas burner. Instead of sitting down to cook, she moved to standing and cooking. But other than that, my side of the routine never changed.

All that changed of course. when cell phones came. I talked to her every single day. Therefore, during my quarterly visits, there was not much “catch up” to do.

Those memories of a young boy standing at the kitchen door having a monologue with his mother is what flashed by my mind first thing this morning.

Two years later, I sometimes still instinctively reach for the phone to call her in the morning.

Today was the day, two years back, she suddenly collapsed and unexpectedly died.

These kind of fond memories are what she left.

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5 December 2022

Upside of traveling all the time

Ran into old colleague Sri Chari at the Atlanta airport. I was waiting for my backpack to make it thru the security check when Sri, who had spotted me first, called out my name. Fortunately, both of us were flying out of Terminal A. That gave us an opportunity to settle down in the Skyclub there and catch up on our lives over the last decade.

Category: Intersection Points | LEAVE A COMMENT
28 November 2022

Usually it is the other way round

I was sitting at my desk working in one of those shared office space places in Alpharetta when a young Indian gentleman started approaching me. He seemed new to me. I have been working out of that place for over 12 years and could not recollect seeing him before.

“Rajib?”

Well, that surprised me. I thought he was going to ask for some help or directions in the new place. But it seemed like we knew each other.

“Yes. You have to help me out a little here.”

“20 years back. Dallas.”

“i2?” I asked.

“Yes”, he replied. But I still could not put the face and a name together.

“You have to help me a little bit more.” I admitted.

“Pradheep Sampath.”

That is when it clicked. Product Manager in Nayan’s group. All sorts of three letter acronyms – LSP (large scale planning), SPP (Spare Parts Planner) started flowing fast thru my stream of consciousness.

From there, the joining of dots flew fast and thick. We remembered a lot of our past friends and some memorable events from our Dallas days.

I had to get back to my Zoom calls after the coffee break. But, good news is that Pradheep will be visiting Alpharetta from DC regularly. Looking forward to spending more time with him!!

(As a reflection point later in the day, it reminded me of something I tell my folks at work always. When we meet again many years later, we will forget product names and financial numbers. We will always remember people and specific interactions. That is how we humans are.)

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24 November 2022

A different kind of Thanksgiving

Here in America, today is one of the most joyous days. It is Thanksgiving. A day that celebrates that fundamental cause celebre for humans beings – family relationships. It is a day that reminds us that in spite of some of the strains in family relationships (who amongst us does not have that weird uncle or that seemingly insufferable relative?), there is always a set of people who will be there by us when we need them the most. Even when everybody forsakes us.

And then there are people like Mr. G. Lying in the corner room of the hospice, he has no family, nor any idea that it is Thanksgiving. In fact, when I told him that it is Thanksgiving today, he smiled and said “Merry Christmas!”. In his bouts of slipping in and out of cognitive consciousness, he did answer me right when I asked “What do we eat today?”. “Turkey!”. But had no recollection of cranberry sauce or stuffing!

He literally has no family. He had been in the hospice for a long time before a very distant cousin (second cousin I believe) located him and paid him a visit.

But for all that, he is too preoccupied to miss the love of a family. He needs help for every thing he has to do. He cannot even sit up without somebody helping him. He cannot turn on his sides when he feels sore, he cannot pull his blanket over himself when he feels cold and worse, with his fading speech and loss of memory of words, he can often not express what it is that he wants.

I am not sure what thoughts go thru one’s mind when you are physically incapable of doing anything. Who do you thank when you reflect on life? Are you too unhappy/angry with current state or are thankful for everything you still have? Would it have been better if nobody reminded you that it is Thanksgiving so you will not miss it and the day would pass for you just like yet another day?

Eventually, he got tired and wanted to sleep. As I put the blanket over him, he murmured “Come back again” and went off to deep sleep.

For all the thoughts I was having about Mr. G as I started walking down the corridor, a more important sight caught my eyes. There were about half a dozen staff milling around… helping the residents. These staff, I am sure do have family at home. But they had to adjust their celebrations so as to make sure the residents were cared after.

It was very difficult not to feel thankful for everything I have. And perhaps take them for granted.

Category: In Transit | 1 Comment on A different kind of Thanksgiving